Soap sheet and method of making same



J. H. MUISE SOAP SHEET AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed June 20, 1944 7 Fig.1?

I l I I 1 I I I I I I I I h"------------- lNVE NTOR Jamar BY ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 27, 1945 soar snna'r AND METHOD or MAKING SAME James H. Muise, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application June 20, 1944, Serial No. 541,183

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in soap I sheets and the method of making the same.

Heretofore, to avoid the danger of transmitting skin diseases due to the indiscriminate use of the same piece of soap and soap dispensing devices by all persons and to avoid the inconvenience of carrying a bar of soap about with one, it has been proposed to provide soap in sheet form.

To provide such a soap sheet, it was proposed heretofore that a single piece of paper be coated on both sides with soap so that the soap could easily be softened and worked into a lather. Because the soap was carried on the exterior of such soap sheets, they had the disadvantage that when stacked they would stick together and could not easily be separated and dispensed. Further, the soap on the exterior of the sheet was liable to rub off when carried as an individual sheet in a pocket or purse, and should the layer of soap crack the chips or pieces would fall oh and lodge themselves in the pocket or purse.

These disadvantages are avoided by the present invention by providing a single layer of soap between two paper sheets so that the soap is substantially protected and confined between the paper sheets. Preferably, the paper sheets are of such open, unsized or loose body that upon being wet and rubbed with water in the hands they readily disintegrate into a pulp-like mass releasing the soap for contact with the hands. When free of the binding action of the soap the paper breaks up into its component fibers and washes away down the drain. Accordingly, the soap is protected against rubbing oil or chipping oh by the layers of paper between which it is interposed, and the laminated sheets thus provided, being substantially free of soap on their outer surfaces, do not readily stick together and may be stacked or rolled and removed from the stack or roll one laminated sheet at a time.

In racticing the invention, a wide variety of more or less open-pored paper may be used, and likewise a wide variety of different soap compositions may be applied to the paper. I have found, however, that excellent results are obtained by the use of two sheets of very open paper such as is commonly called facial tissue and used by women for the removal of cosmetics. This paper, when viewed under a magnifying glass, shows many irregular openings at random locations, yet when two such sheets are superposed there are few of the openings which register with each other. This paper, when wet with water, readily disintegrates into its constituent fibers which may flow down the drain without danger or clogging the same.

In case the paper available or desired is not particularly loose or open, it may be made so by perforating or otherwise rupturing the fibers at close intervals so that when the paper is wet is readily breaks up into small pieces, the fibers of which loosen and cause the pieces to disintegrate.

I have also obtained excellent results by employing an oleaginous soap composition, for this readily penetrates the pores of the paper sheets and thus becomes anchored to the same, and does not dry out rapidly and thus become flaky or powdery. However,-it is not essential that the soap be of an oleaginous type, for any soap composition may be employed so long as it does not too quickly dry out and fiake or powder.

Preferably the soap sheet is substantially flexible so that it may be folded without cracking either the paper or the soap and, hence, I prefer to have the soap layer substantially semiplastic.

In making the soap sheet of the present invention, two continuous strips of the desired paper are brought together to form between them a trough into which a quantity of the soap in more or less liquid or plastic condition is fed, then the paper strips are advanced between rollers which squeeze out from between the strips all except the quantity of soap which it is desired to keep between them, then the strips in laminated form with the plastic soap between them as a binder may be passed over or between heated rollers to sumciently dry the soap to make it substantially solid, and then the laminated sheet is fed to a. perforating device in case it is to be rolled up, or to a guillotine paper cutter in case it is to be cut into sheet lengths.

In pressing the sheets of paper together with the interposed soap so as to gauge the quantity oi soap between the sheets, some of the soap is forced into the openings or pores of the paper, and thus interlock with the paper so as to hold them together with the soap between them.

In using the soap sheet of the present invention, the hand held laminated sheet is wetted and then vigorously rubbed between the hands. This not only releases the soap from between the sheets Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

' In the accompanying drawing which shows the soap sheet of the present invention and the apparatus for making the same Figure 1 is a perspective view of a soap sheet made according to the present invention, in which the paper sheets have been pulled apartto illustrate the layer of soap on the inside surfaces of the sheets.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the laminated sheet shown in Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is a greatly magnified view of a section of the laminated sheet in which the holes or pores are formed in the making of the sheet, showing the pores and the soap lying therein.

Fig. 4 is a greatly magnified view of the sheet in which the pores or openings are produced by cross-perforating the sheet.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing the apparatus for making the soap sheets of the present invention.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the soap sheet of the present invention comprises a sheet of paper Ill and another sheet of paper II between which there is placed a layer l2 of soap. In order to illustrate this, in Fig. 1 the sheet It! has one corner pulled up as though the layer of soap I 2 between the sheets would divide. In practice, however, the sheets could not usually be so separated without tearing the sheets, for the layer of soap l2 acts as a binder to hold the sheets I0 and I I as a laminated pile.

The sheets in and II may be made of facial tissue I3 which, as illustrated in Fig. 3, has a multitude of relatively large openings or pores M. The fibers of the sheet are very loosely held together, since the sheet is practically unsized. This fact, coupled with the presence of the pores [3, permits the sheet to rapidly break up or disintegrate, in the presence of water, into relatively small fibers which readily flow down the drain with the water used for washing.

As shown in Fig. 4, a less porous sheet 15 may be used if desired, but in such case it is preferable to provide the sheet-with perforations l8 which may crisscross each other so as to divide the sheet into a large number of small sections which readily disintegrate when wet. In making the soap sheets of the present invention, the sheets l0 and H may begin as parts of continuous strips [0a and Ila, preferably in roll form, and from the rolls the strips are brought together and passed through rollers I]. In the trough l8 formed by the converging strips, a quantity of soap I9, either in liquid form or in plastic form, accumulates, the soap being allowed to flow into the trough from a supply pipe 20 and drip nozzles 2|. The rollers I! are so spaced that only a predetermined amount of soap is allowed to remain between the strips as the strips advance. The quantity remaining may be increased or decreased by separating or bringing together the rollers 11.

The strips Ilia and Ila are held together by'the adhesive and binding action of the soap,-and in this condition may be passed over or between heating rollers 22 so as to partially dry the soap. The laminated sheet may then pass over a guide roller 23 and between feed rollers 24 to a cutoff knife 25 where the strip is cut into sheet lengths falling into a container 28. If the strip is to be stored and dispensed in roll form, it may be perforated at sheet lengths by perforating mechanism 21 diagrammatically illustrated in dotted lines in Fig, 5, and the knife or cutter 25 may be rendered inoperative so that the laminated strip may be wound on a spool 28 also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

, In passing between the rollers i1, some of the soap is squeezed into the pores I4 or the perforations 18 depending upon whether the strip has natural or artificially formed openings and thus interlocks with the strips and aids in holding the strips together as a laminated pile.

Besides serving this purpose, the openings or pores in the sheet in use permit the soap to escape from between the sheets onto the user's hands when wet even before the sheets ball up into a pulpy mass.

Since the openings or pores II in the sheet I! are irregular in shape and are located at random, when two of such sheets are superposed the openings for the most part do not register in the two sheets. This aids in strengthening the sheet for its intended use.

As stated above, the composition and consistency of the soap may be varied within wide limits. For instance, if the sheets are to be maintained flat and substantially undisturbed until ready for use, the soap may be of the kind which becomes rather hard and brittle. If, however, the sheets themselves are to be folded or are to be left in continuous form and rolled, it is preferable that the soap be oleaginous so as to remain semiplastic until its use. In either case, the provision of a single layer of soap between two layers of paper has the advantage of keeping the soap where it is desired. In the case of the hard or brittle soap layer, even should the interior portions of the soap layer crack, they will not escape from between the sheets unless all of the layer is cracked and the sheets separate from each other. In the case of the oleaginous or softer soap, should the soap become too soft in the presence of heat. it will be absorbed largely by the paper layers above and below it.

By having the soap between two layers of paper, the sheets may be stacked on top of one another without danger of the sheets becoming stuck together, and likewise the sheets in continuous or strip form may be rolled without the convolutions seriously adhering and preventing the. strip from being unwound for use.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of paper with a layer of soap interposed between them and binding them together into a unitary structure, said paper being capable of disintegrating when wet.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of open-pored paper with a layer of soap interposed between them and lodged in. the pores of the paper, said soap binding the superposed sheets together into a unitary structure.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of open unsized paper with a layer of soap interposed between them and lodged in the openings of the paper, said soap binding the superposed sheets together into a unitary structure.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a pairof superposed sheets of perforated paper with a layer of soap interposed between them and lodged in the perforations of the paper, said soap binding the superposed sheets together into a unitary structure.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of paper with a layer of oleaginous soap interposed between them and securing the sheets into a unitary structure, said paper being capable of disintegrating when wet.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of paper with a layer of semiplastic soap interposed between them and binding them together into a unitary structure, said paper being capable of disintegrating when wet.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of open unsized paper which disintegrates into its constituent fibers upon being wet with water and rubbed, and a layer of soap interposed between the sheets of paper and acting as a binder to hold the sheets together and against disintegrating until the soap dissolves,

whereupon the fibers of the paper are released and flow away with the water used to dissolve the soap.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a pair of superposed sheets of flexible, water-disintegrable paper with a layer of flexible oleaginous soap interposed between them and serving to bind the paper sheets together in a unitary laminated pile.

9. The hereindescribed method of making disposable soap sheets which includes the steps of depositing a layer of soap between two sheets of open pored. water disintegrable paper, and squeezing the sheets and interposed soap to regulate the amount of soap remaining between the sheets, to cause the sheets to be adhered together by the soap, and to force the soap into the pores of the paper. 7

10. The hereindescribed method of making disposable soap sheets which includes the steps of causing two strips of porous water disintegrable paper to converge to form a trough; depositing a quantity of soap in the trough so formed; advancing the strips; pressing the strips together to control the amount of soap remaining between the strips as the latter advance; and drying the strips sufficiently for storage and subsequent use.

11. The hereindescribed method of makin disposable soap sheets which includes the steps of causing two strips of porous water disintegrable paper to converge to form a trough; depositing a quantity of soap in the trough so formed; advancing the strips; pressing the strips together to control the amount of soap remaining between the strips as the latter advance; and passing the 1aminated pile between heated rollers to set the soap for storage and subsequent use.

12. The hereindescribed method of making disposable soap sheets which includes the steps of causing two strips of porous water disintegrable paper to converge to form a trough; depositing a quantity of soap in the trough so formed; advancing the strips; pressing the strips together to control the amount of soap remaining between the strips as the latter advance; drying the strips sufficiently for storage and-subsequent use; and cutting the strip into sheet lengths for use.

13. The hereindescribed method of making disposable soap sheets which includes the steps of causing two strips of porous water disintegrable paper to converge to form a trough; depositing a quantity of soap in the trough so formed; ad vancing the strips; pressing the strips together to control the amount of soap remaining between the strips as the latter advance; drying the strips sufiiciently for storage and subsequent use; and winding the strip into a roll for storage.

JAMES H. MUISE. 

